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No brake light

  • Thread starter Thread starter littleroot
  • Start date Start date
L

littleroot

Guest
1980 GS1100E brake lights not working. Sigh. Where to start?

This is TOM_MLC's old silver bike and some said - and I remember too - he had a flashing brake light system. But when he sold me the bike he said it didn't have it when I asked. Now a couple weeks later I realize the brake light is not working at all. Oh and neither is the left rear blinker, but at least that one is obvious, it is broken! Are these things related? I'm not sure. Behind the rear lens there are two bulbs, one over the other. The bottom has one filament and the top has two. Bottom bulb is fine. In the top bulb both filaments look good and one is lit when the key is on but the other does not light when either the front or rear brake is applied.

Any help you can lend is appreciated. The E is totally new to me as I came from the GL.

-Bob
 
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take bulb out, and test directly with holding it to the battery, see if it lights up, you will need a piece of wire for either the negative or positive, the bulb itself can be contacted directly to the opposite, or as in the picture below

bulb.jpg
 
GateKeeper said:
take bulb out, and test directly with holding it to the battery, see if it lights up, you will need a piece of wire for either the negative or positive, the bulb itself can be contacted directly to the opposite, or as in the picture below

bulb.jpg
Click to expand...

Great diagram, Thanks!

The bulb checks out OK: I swapped it with the one in my GS1100GL.

Unfortunately I have to go digging in the wires I guess. Where to start...?
 
Of course the darn dash board system shows the stop light as good :)
 
so no brake light comes on, when ? if you pull the brake lever on the handle bar does it come on ? if you push the brake lever via the foot pedal does the light come on ?

in either case each one has a switch that sends a signal to activate the bulb, are those in working order ? now that we have determined the bulb is OK
 
GateKeeper said:
so no brake light comes on, when ? if you pull the brake lever on the handle bar does it come on ? if you push the brake lever via the foot pedal does the light come on ?

in either case each one has a switch that sends a signal to activate the bulb, are those in working order ? now that we have determined the bulb is OK
Click to expand...

That is right: no brake light comes on. Both the front brake and rear brake switch do the same: no light comes on. Headlight works, three out of four turn indicators light up (fourth turn indicator is in the mail). Bike starts and runs just fine. Just no brake light.
 
do you have this and are they in good condition

P1060354.jpg


P1060355.jpg


P1060356.jpg


P1060357.jpg


P1060358.jpg
 
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GateKeeper said:
do you have this and are they in good condition
Click to expand...

I cannot say for sure it is in good working condition but what are the odds both the front brake and rear brake switch failed at the same time?

Yeah, so I am ruling out the hand lever switch and foot lever switch for now, but maybe I'll be sorry I did!

I just traced the brake light wires back to a box and the name on it is "Priority Plus", which Google says is a flashing brake light kit. So it is indeed still installed. I think I should bypass it. Opinions?
 
Priority Plus video

Priority Plus video

Here is another dumb video I shot tonight, just for my record keeping. I shot this one in standard definition on my smartphone because the last one was so large it took 45 minutes to upload(!)

Link here also below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdl-V8NG0v8

I read up a bit in the Priority Plus and it involves the turn signals: they are supposed to flash three times when you hit the brake. As I said previously, one of my turn indicators, specifically the left rear is out of commission and I think it may have a short inside and possibly fouling this up. I did bypass the broken indicator but no joy.

At this point, since I have a new indicator coming, I'm thinking of installing the new indicator and see what happens. If still no joy I will remove the Priority Plus as perhaps it has failed.

Any ideas gang?

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,
-Bob
 
if those connectors come apart I would take each one apart give it a good clean, get some dielectric grease and put that on as well, get a bulb for the turn signal that burned out, start the bike, and try the brakes and see if the lights work as they should.

also trace each wire make sure it's not pinched, or stripped and possibly causing a ground

electrical gremlins are one of the worse to diagnose.....
 
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